Is early intervention timely?

This report examined the intersection of early intervention strategies and disadvantage to find out whether marginalized people can actually be reached with information before the point that a legal problem escalates to the formal resolution stage. The author noted that “the value and the impact of an intervention is not necessarily linked to its timing in the legal process” – timeliness should be seen from the client’s experience rather than on an arbitrary timeline. She also found that a targeted approach to early intervention must be taken, because the most disadvantaged people are the most likely to be missed systematically because of personal barriers. This means that early intervention strategies should be seen as an addition to more intensive help, rather than a substitute.